Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Congratulations to all out Marvelous Moodle Winners!

After an exhaustive analysis of our school Moodle pages, we have awarded the most marvelous pages below!  If you are having a hard time using Moodle in your classroom, take a look at these pages to see how teachers are effectively using Moodle with their students.


Best Overall Moodle - Mr. Hipkins - US History
- Awarded for the consistent and organized posting of assignments, downloads, and various educational opportunities


Best Moodle Accessibility - Mr. Coyle - AP English Lit
- Awarded for its easy-to-navigate (and manage) setup

Best Moodle Content (tie) - Mr. Bernecker - Physics
Best Moodle Content (tie) - Ms. Royse - Environmental Science
- Awarded for their breadth of resources and materials

Pizzaz-iest Moodle - Ms. Williams - Dance, 2nd Period
- Awarded for the unique organization and fabulous use of images and sound

Best non-Class Moodle - US Math Department - PSAT/SAT/ACT Review Resources
- Awarded for unique use of Moodle, an information-rich, easy to navigate page

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Blogger with your Capital City PCS Email

Teachers, have you ever wanted to set up a classroom blog?

You can use your CCPCS email to create a Blogger account!

In order to do this, the Tech Staff will have to activate your Blogger account. Before we can do so, please sign this Blogger Terms of Service, and return it to a member of the Tech Team. We will keep these signed forms in the Tech Operations office.

For more resources on using blogs in the classroom, check out Ms. Cooper's Posterous blog, or check out the Blogs CITY page (login required).

Friday, December 9, 2011

Announcing the Upper School Make your Moodle Marvelous Contest!


Teachers, do you have what it takes to create the best Capital City Upper School Moodle page?  



Deadline: December 20, 12:00pm


We will judge all existing pages and choose the most attractive, functional, and unique courses!


Winners will be announced at the December 21 Technology Professional Development session.


Need to prepare?


Access models, best practices, and other resources to enhance your website on the Moodle CITY Page, or in forthcoming blog posts on this site! 


(Teachers, if you have trouble accessing the Moodle CITY page, email Mr. Chase.)

Make your Moodle Marvelous! - Best Practices for the US Moodle Contest

Upper school teachers, do you want to win big in the Make your Moodle Marvelous Contest? Follow these six simple strategies to make your Moodle page more engaging!


1. Delete Unnecessary Blocks

You own your class pages, so feel free to remove everything and start from scratch. Too many boxes on the sides of the screen have the potential to distract your students.  Consider removing all unnecessary blocks from the edges of your page.

To remove a block, make sure you are in the editing mode. Click on the red X in the blue bar of a block to delete it.

2. Use HTML Blocks

Customize your courses and highlight content using separate HTML blocks. HTML lets you embed images and format text in unique ways. Target important content for your students by separating blocks instead of making long lists of resources that your students have to sort through.


3. Use Images

Consider using images to further catch your students' eyes. Emphasize important content with simple visuals.


4. Use Links (in text and as images)

You can always add links separately as resources at the bottom of your Topics box, but you can also add links directly in your text with they What You See is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor.  This way, you can make image "buttons" by associating and image with a link.



5. Include Learning Objects (like Images and Video)

Make your Moodle more relevant by linking to important learning objects, like videos, slideshow presentations, even Google Docs and Forms. Use HTML-based widgets to embed images and even video. To learn how to embed video, watch this tutorial:



6. Use the Topic View to Control your Course

Moodle lets you set up your page in a variety of ways. Consider using the Topic view in order to organize by unit rather than week. Also, remove empty blocks easily in the Site Management Section.


More Resources

For more of these great tips, watch the Classroom 2.0 Live Featured Teacher with special guest Beth Still.  Many of the tips in this post come from Beth Still.  More of the resources from that presentation are located on the Classroom 2.0 Live Livebinders Page.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Welcome to Mr. Chase's new Technology Blog

 

On this site, teachers from the Capital City Public Charter School can learn about

  • technology tips and tricks
  • Capital City Public Charter School technology announcements
  • resources for and about technology Professional Development sessions.

For more resources, make sure to check out the Capital City Public Charter School Teach Technology Moodle page.

For more of Mr. Chase's musings, check out his Make EdTech Happen blog, where he analyzes recent trends in educational technology.